Trending Amenities and
How to Make Them Work
Growing Demographic
Over the past decade, people's expectations from their homes have evolved. A growing demographic of high-income renters has generated a highly competitive market for multifamily housing developments.
"I think the big change I have seen over the years is that people want bigger and bigger, more and more amenity spaces. Developers are putting a lot more effort and money into them", says LCM Partner Todd Douglas, AIA, LEED AP BC+C. "The trend was already shifting in that direction, and now it has taken a whole new life after the pandemic."


Impact of COVID-19
The pandemic has forced the residential typology to satisfy multi-faceted roles of at-home comfort, work, recreation, and safer socialization. We sat down with LCM's architects Todd Douglas, Erin Rensink, Matthew Schreiber, and Jonathan Frink to discuss how they meet these expectations when designing for multifamily housing developments and what are the amenity trends in this ever-evolving housing market.
"I don't know if the term ‘arms race’ is appropriate, but it is a little bit like that", says Jonathan. "When the prospective tenant has the choice between sixteen places to live, sometimes the amenities are what can make or break the deal". Young professionals are looking for a full living experience set within a community, and here are some amenities that are gaining traction.
Collaborative Partnership
It's a credit to the developers LCM has been working with that amenities have been an important part of our multifamily designs and not simply an after-thought. For amenities to work, it’s important that they are integrated from the beginning into the larger concept of the design.


Local Touch
We have some exciting artistic expressions in our upcoming projects. In Colorado, we have some heavy timber frame construction for the clubhouse. “It’s a really nice, authentic way to build something,” says Jonathan. “In our Converge project, we introduced a new feature: an expansive mural to be created in the clubhouse by a local artist. It was an effort on our part to involve a local artist, and it was nice to see that the developer was completely onboard with it”, shared Todd. “We took a page from that book and are going to do that at another project too.”
Value
It’s about creating that balance, so the developer can be competitive in the market, but also get a return for their investment. “At the end of the day, you’re not going to be able to put in some ridiculously expensive amenity if there’s no return on the value”, says Todd.
